South Florida’s Dara Torres, a swimming legend who at the age of 41 won silver medals in the 2008 Olympics, has become celebrity spokesperson for a local muscle recovery product.
Torres is now promoting Gold Medal Aminos, produced by Sunrise-based Fitness Nutrition. According to a statement from the company, Torres calls the amino acid complex, “The [...]

 
One year after the first Indo-Pacific lionfish was discovered and removed from Biscayne National Park, almost 50 additional ones have been removed. Lionfish are invasive, exotic animals with few natural predators in the waters off Miami. The animal feeds voraciously on native fish, especially members of the snapper and grouper families.
Local predators do include human beings who [...]

 
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Backpacking and Hiking ($17) is now on sale. Idiots of Florida’s trails, rejoice!
Written by Jason Stevenson, the former skills editor at Backpacker magazine, the book offers advice to people ranging from hardcore trekkers to strolling honeymooners and seniors.
Specific subjects include how to choose a trip and location; ways to train for [...]

 
A South Florida company has manufactured a ball that bounces on water for use in games.
Greenacres-based Waboba, short for “water bouncing ball,” was created to provide new options in water activities. Only a few inches of water—on the ocean, a lake or a pond—are needed to play handball, tennis and other sports.
The popular “Extreme” model [...]

 
On July 10 South Florida’s Ark Paddleboards and Board Sports Productions hosted the first annual Cast for Kids Stand-Up Paddleboard Fishing Tournament. The event was held in the waters off Ocean Point Beach Resort in Pompano Beach.
On a flat sea with calm winds, 18 anglers turned their paddleboards and surfboards into human-powered platforms for casting their fishing [...]

 
A Wreck Trek Passport Program spotlighting the Florida Keys Shipwreck Trail now awaits divers visiting the Keys.
Certified divers can explore the destination’s most appealing feature—a string of sunken vessels and artificial reefs—and be awarded for logging back-to-back wreck dives or dives on subsequent visits through Jan. 1, 2012.
Divers taking up the challenge receive an Official [...]

Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads (Oceanview Publishing; $28) hit bookstores and e-tailers on July 5. The volume was co-edited by critic Hank Wagner and David Morrell, the author of First Blood (“Rambo”) as well as a co-founder of the International Thriller Writers organization.
Essays cover the “top” 100 thrillers dating from Beowulf to The Da Vinci Code.
Some of [...]

 
Divers who want to merge their faith with their passion for scuba diving now have an opportunity. The Reef Ministries Scuba & Scripture Liveaboard Cruise is a liveaboard dive adventure.
Divers enjoy Christian fellowship, scuba diving and worshiping God on a weeklong adventure aboard the Aqua Cat off islands of the Bahamas. Activities include snorkeling, kayaking, fishing, [...]

 
Diveheart, a national nonprofit that assists disabled scuba divers, is seeking nominations for its hall of fame. The mission of the hall is “to recognize and salute individuals both disabled and able-bodied who have displayed an exceptional commitment to the support, promotion and furtherance of scuba diving for children, adults and veterans with disabilities.”
 The inductees [...]

 
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has closed a 4.5-mile section of the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail until Aug. 31.
LOST is closed from Lake Harbor (Structure 354) to South Bay in order to accommodate the delivery of 40,000 tons of armor stone that will be used to reinforce the Herbert Hoover Dike in the event of [...]